New Brunswick has 26 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 8 new cases reported on Wednesday (March 25).
Public health says the newest cases are all travel-related or close contacts of existing cases.
The new cases are:
- An individual aged 50-60, in Zone 1 (southeast), whose case is travel-related.
- An individual aged 30-40, in Zone 1 (southeast), whose case is travel-related.
- An individual aged 60-70, in Zone 1 (southeast), whose case is travel-related.
- An individual aged 50-60, in Zone 2 (south), whose case is travel-related (had been on a cruise).
- An individual aged 10-20, in Zone 2 (south), whose case is travel-related (had been on a cruise).
- An individual aged 20-30, in Zone 2 (south), who is a close contact of a travel-related case.
- An individual aged 30-40, in Zone 3 (central), whose case is travel-related.
- An individual aged 30-40, in Zone 4 (northwest), whose case is travel-related.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says more people are being tested and more widely than previously.
She says the travel criteria for testing has been broadened to include anyone who has been outside New Brunswick in the past 14 days.
“As we increase testing in the days and weeks ahead, we will find more confirmed cases. So far, more than 1700 tests have been conducted in New Brunswick.”
Dr. Russell says testing is adequate and efficient to meet the ever-changing shape of the current pandemic.
The microbiology laboratory at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont Hospital, where all the province’s COVID-19 testing is being administered, is meeting the existing and anticipated demand.
“We have the capacity to conduct 600 tests per day,” said Dr. Russell. “Soon we will be able to process 1,000 tests every day.”
To protect privacy going forward, Dr. Russell says only the age ranges and provincial health zones of individuals who have tested positive for the virus will be released.
